Where The Good Men Go
by CatarinaM
Summary: In 1914, the Russian Army sent two troops to invade Eastern Prussia. Ivan Braginski is forced into the army three weeks after his 18th birthday and is sent to fight with the second army sent to Prussia. Meanwhile, in the US, Alfred Jones' boss needs someone to go to Prussia to renew their shared Treaty and who better for the job than him?
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

 _December 30th, 1913_

Reaching a hand to his mothers left cheek, Ivan gently ran a thumb through her heavy tears of terror. He sniffled in defeat and hugged her as if it would be his last time being in her arms again.

'Не плачь, мамa.'

General Braginski, Ivan's dear father, had failed to keep his son's birthday out of public ears and it did not take long for word to get to the Army. A letter arrived at the families home that morning from the Minister of War, General Sukhomlinov.

 _'NOTICE PAPER to be sent to men who belong to the Imperial Russian Army under the provisions of **рекрутская повинность**._

 _Mr Ivan Braginski,_

 _You are hereby warned that you will be required to join for service on January 25th, 1914._

 _You should, therefore, present yourself at the Headquarters in Mogilev on the above date at no later than 9 AM, bringing this paper with you._

 _Военный министр, Vladimir Sukhomlinov.'_

Ivan knew it would be horrible to face conscription and leave his family for two years but he understood that it was a necessary evil that every family had to endure. His father and mother had spared him details of the gravity of his liability to the military, so Ivan had no idea that at the time, Russia was preparing for two of the greatest battles it would ever have.

Both of which, would result in the loss of over a million military lives.

His heartbroken mother had hoped that her husband would be able to keep their sons 18th birthday under wraps up until 'Plan 19' was over and done with. This was a plan developed to move Russian troops into Eastern Prussia and take over. The entire public that knew of this idea, opposed it. Everyone knew it would be disastrous due to the government being pre-occupied with matters pertaining to the also upcoming 'Great War'.

General Braginski sat Ivan down in his office on the eve of January 24th. Ivan looked down at his lap and toyed with the sleeves of his black ribbed jumper as silence filled the air between them, neither saying a word. Finally, the General spoke, 'Cын, do not be afraid.' He said sternly as he stared at his only son from across the desk. 'Father,' Ivan began to choke up, 'What makes a man good?' he asked, feigning emotion to his father in an effort to escape his voyage to Mogilev the following morning as he knew there was no way the General would allow his son who cried before he left to embarrass him in front of his colleagues in the Army. Unfortunately, Ivan's father was sympathetic to his emotions for once. As HE knew there was a high chance his son may not even make it back for him to yell at him.

'Well Иван, I have told you before, what makes a man good is his knowledge of what is wrong and what is right and his will to fight for the latter. A good man is a man who fights for the heaven he wishes to live in on earth, no matter the cost. Some say that good men are the men that don't harm their loved ones and that don't put themselves before anything else. Others say that good men are the men that go to war for their country. I do not believe so. I believe that Hell is where the men I work with will go. The men who make very fine soldiers but go home and beat their wives into the ground. The men who rape and murder the innocent during an invasion and make excuses for it being necessary. I believe that Heaven is where the men like you will go. As that is where the good men go.'

* * *

OKAY, so I know the Russians obviously didn't write official letters and notices in English but I couldn't write the whole lot in Russian cuz that's overkill to the GODS. I try to keep my fics as close to realistic and accurate as I possibly can bc while I love the fantastical stuff I also love history and I tend to prefer accuracy w/ that. All Russian and German translations will be in the notes for every chapter and I do keep the native languages to a minimum and to only places I think it suits the dialogue or text. When it comes to the Hetalia fandoms weird obsession with justifying the actions of APH Germany, unfortunately, he's the villain again. He plays a big part in the outcome of this story.  
TRANSLATIONS:  
'Не плачь, мамa' - Do not cry, mother.  
'рекрутская повинность' - the name for the older Russian conscription system it literally translates to 'conscript obligation'  
'Военный министр' - Minister Of War  
'Cын' - Son  
'Иван' - Ivan


	2. One

_August 13th, 1914_

It had been eight months since Ivan had started his training in Mogilev and as suspected, he was pushed to his human limit every day.

The General he was assigned to had a reputation for being one of the strictest and sternest around the base and made sure that none of the soldiers slept soundly at night. He told them stories about past cadets that, to them, sounded like horror stories one would tell at camp, but to him were just casual anecdotes.

On the early morning of the thirteenth at 5 AM, Ivan's wheat-beige, unkempt hair was pulled up from his pillow by one of his bunkmates. 'Вставай', the young Lithuanian soldier who was known as Toris whispered to him. Ivan jumped up from his bunk and stood in front of Toris with questioning violet-coloured eyes. The other soldier backed away from Ivan slightly, due to the intense height difference between them and he just pointed in the direction the other soldiers were walking in. Ivan nodded at him in appreciation and smirked at the fact that Toris was intimidated by him.

It was common for Russians to be tall but standing at 182cm, he was the largest in his ranking.

The seven hundred other men in his dorm were angrily awoken by two Lieutenants yelling at them to get up immediately and meet them out back, but somehow Ivan managed to sleep through the commotion. The two men gathered their thoughts, made their beds as fast as they could and ran outside. As he followed Toris through the large double doors to the back of the base, Ivan was blinded by a piercing yellow light that was only turned on for emergency meetings. He flinched as his sleep-filled eyes came into contact with the source of the light and rubbed them to rid them of blurriness, walking behind his friend to the large huddle of soldiers who stood in front of the General, frantically clamouring in confusion.

Ivan stood still, silently shivering from both the sudden awakening and the chilled wintery air of the outside.

The General stood before the 2530 cadets, in his full uniform. He hastily cleared his throat and motioned for them to get in the formation they were taught at the beginning of their training eight months ago. He sighed and saluted at the soldiers and, as they saluted back, he stopped them. Ivan's knees went weak as his mind raced with different possibilities of what was to come.

'The government have decided to put Plan 19 into action immediately due to extreme sudden measures that have been taken by General Danilov. At 0300 hours tomorrow morning, the entire base will be split into two armies and will begin the descent into Eastern Prussia. All of you will be in the Second Army, serving as the main infantry division. There, both armies will have separate territory. The First, will be assigned all the open areas surrounding the town and The Second, including you lot, will be assigned all the locally populated villages and the main town,' the General began informing them without even a shred of emotion.

'When upon the land,' he continued, 'you will split again. This time into smaller groups of 4 and you will fan out across the territory your main troop is assigned to, in order to gain more knowledge of your surroundings and make a record of where everything and everyone is at certain times. This will go on until dusk. No one is to be harmed and not a single weapon is to be used up until then. You will remain completely discrete. The second the dusk bell rings, open fire.' The last sentence was spoken with nothing but hatred, which made Ivan wonder what this mission was REALLY about.

Ivan began shaking his head in distress, 'But sir, respectively, we've only had eight months of training! Why not send the higher troops on a mission this dangerous?' he knew this would not end well due to the complete lack of experience of most soldiers in his rank, including himself.

'кадет, the higher troops would have been used for this mission if they weren't being prepared for a battle that is three times as dangerous as this one. Do not ever speak out of turn again. I know you are all inexperienced and I know this is extremely sudden, but this has to be done and so it shall be.' The General spat back at him, fully knowing this was a suicide mission for these men but unfortunately he had to make peace with that.

The soldiers were sent back to bed with no other information and fear in their hearts of the unknown.

* * *

IK this chapter is short and just focusing on the Russki but it's all relative tho don't worry and Ivan and Alfred meet in the next chapter for definite and it'll be longer. This is literally Toris' only appearance but I wanted to make them friends bc both deserve better.

Also, PLEASE correct my Russian if it's incorrect in any way bc I've only been learning for a couple of years but I'm trying.

TRANSLATIONS:

'Вставай' - Get up

'кадет' - Cadet


	3. Two

_August 14th, 1914_

None of the soldiers had managed to reach slumber that night after the frightening news they had received that in a mere few hours, they were to attempt an invasion of Eastern Prussia.

Ivan's whole body shook with both rage and terror as he put on his uniform that morning. Light brown khaki pants, matching tunic and long brown boots made up his uniform, as well as a darker brown astrakhan hat and a dark black leather belt to tie the tunic. Once dressed, the men made their way to the mess hall where Ivan sat down beside Toris and five other men from his bunk.

The men chattered amongst themselves as they ate their meal that consisted mostly of vegetable stew with a side of bread. His mind began to wander as Ivan started to think about his sisters, Natalya and Yekaterina. He wondered if they'd write to him...If his parents would write to him. He wondered if they'd even know he was gone to battle.

A few hours of preparation later, the soldiers stood in single line formation and piled into the planes when their numbers were called. They were sectioned into their divisions and the troops made way to the East German border.

Ivan was terrified.

Landing in the middle of an open airfield, they arrived to dead silence. The General secured a piece of land that he knew the Germans would not be present at, at the time of their landing. When the soldiers got out, they were put into numerous groups of four and sent out to their posts.

Toris was put into a group with one of his other friends, Eduard, who was actually Estonian. This meant that Ivan was with three soldiers he didn't know and more importantly, didn't like.

His group was stationed in the main town, Königsberg.

After a half an hour of listening to his fellow soldiers bicker about the morals of this mission, Ivan decided to have a look around on his own.

He admired everything from the beautiful peachy-pink and white brick paths he walked on, to the floral arrangements of carnations and pansies that covered the windowsills of most of the public buildings he passed. One building, in particular, had sunflowers growing up the walls in a vine-like pattern. Sunflowers had always been Ivan's favourite flowers growing up as he thought they were absolutely divine. This whole area had been completely untouched by any form of battle.

Walking around, he was terrified of talking to any of the locals for fear he would blow his cover and ruin the operation. So instead, he just listened to the happy and casual chatter of the town's inhabitants. He began to get a tight feeling of uncertainty in the very pit of his gut as his eyes fell on a group of seven young children playing in the courtyard.

He walked around for hours just taking everything in.

Ivan got so lost in thought and admiration, that he hadn't even realised that nightfall had begun to hit. His heart nearly jumped from his body as he heard the bell that marks a half-hour. The time was 8:30 pm, dusk was in 30 minutes.

Pulling himself out of his daydream, he sprinted to the location his group was to be at by dusk: the corner of a very popular tavern.

When he got there, completely out of breath, he looked around and saw not a soldier in sight. Nothing but drunken old men stumbling around and yelling at each other in German. He didn't dare open his mouth to call out the names of the other soldiers in search of them but suddenly, he heard yelling in Russian. It was coming from right behind the tavern.

Ivan ran to where he heard the yelling. One of the men had a civilian pushed up against the wall of the tavern while another had a blade to the innocent mans neck and the third man just stood back, watching.

'What are you doing? If you hurt him, you'll ruin this entire operation.' he whispered to the soldier holding the knife.

'Operation?' the wide-eyed civilian questioned through a strained voice.

'Braginski, looks like _YOU_ just ruined it. This man is an American. And thanks to you, we now have no choice but to kill him.' the observing soldier jeered at Ivan, who mentally slapped himself. Soldiers were taught simple English during training so they could understand English opponents so the group went by the idea that if they spoke english, no one would realise they're Russian. None of the town's civilians were ever taught English so it was a good cover but they did not, however, account for tourists in the area.

Ivan panicked, he did not want to be the cause of this poor mans death. 'Okay, I will take care of it. You go man the post. I will be up there after I get rid of him.' he devised a plan in his head as fast as he could. The man holding the American nodded his head with a smirk, released him and took the other two with him back to the front of the tavern.

The second the two were alone, the stranger started to panic and ramble, ' _PLEASE_ don't kill me, I'm begging you, I still have so much to do and-' Ivan cut him off by slapping a hand over his mouth. 'I am not going to hurt you but you have to be quiet if you want my help.' the man below Ivan nodded with a frightened whimper and his eyebrows furrowed as he stood up from the kneeling position he was dropped to, and looked up at the tall soldier.

'Now, what is your name and why are you here at such a dangerous time?' Ivan shook his head and whisper-yelled at him.

'Jones. Alfred Jones. I work for the US President and my boss sent me here to speak with the Governer of Königsberg about re-newing the Treaty between my country and here. I swear, I'm not here for anything other than that.' the man now known to be Alfred told him in complete honesty. He was wearing a dark brown flight jacket, a beige shirt and pants and his caramel-coloured hair had a short but bouncy cowlick. He looked genuine and Ivan knew there really WAS no ulterior motive here. And Ivan realised that. But he just didn't know what to do with him. He knew he had to keep this man safe as if one of the Presidents right-hand men were killed at the hands of a Russian soldier, the relationship between Russia and the US would be absolutely shattered.

He spotted a small hatch at the end of the wall they were standing against and ran towards it. It was locked by a padlock which luckily happened to have the key left in it. Opening it, he saw that it led to a darkened stone staircase - the taverns' cellar.

'I am Ivan, I think you already know who I work for. It is too dangerous for you to be out here, especially as an American. If you get hurt here, it will only further strain the relationship between our two countries. I do not think either of us want that. Go down to the end of the cellar and stay there, no matter what you hear. I will come back when things are safer. Until I come to get you, do not leave here. I will explain everything later.'

Alfred nodded in understanding and began his careful descent down the stairs of the pitch dark cellar.

Ivan closed the hatch doors behind him and fumbled with the padlock as his hands shook with nerves. When he got it closed, he inhaled sharply and dug the end of the key into the palm of his hand. Once it pierced his skin, he closed his eyes in pain and dragged the key down his hand, creating a long gash. Blood began to seep through the gash and he smeared the blood onto his tunic. He wiped the key clean on his pants and slipped it into his back pocket before running back to his post.

The other soldiers jeered and high fived him when they saw the blood on his uniform and Ivan reluctantly returned the gesture with his unwounded hand.

The American was safe for now, thankfully. He began to think about what would happen if they found out he lied about killing him, when all of a sudden, the first toll of the dusk bell sounded. Ivan's body went completely rigid as his heart sank to his stomach. He reminded himself that he had to do this for his family. For his sisters. Picking up one of the long muskets the group had hid behind a longer crate, he followed his fellow soldiers into the streets.

* * *

FINALLY they meet lol I was almost about to split this chapter into two parts but I decided against it cuz i just want to write rusame like so badly rn.

Gilbert appears in the next chapter aye theres gunna be a big battle ;)


	4. Three

_3:00 AM, August 15th, 1914_

A shrieking ring in Ivan's ears pulled him back into reality. His head spun heavily and all he could see around him was total and utter destruction. People running and screaming. Mothers holding their children's limp bodies in their arms, wailing and sobbing in the rubble of their ruined family home. Fathers desperately calling their sons names in an effort to find them. Bullets flying in every direction, piercing the hearts of the very young and the very old.

He began to hear a low echo of yells coming from behind him and he snapped his head around, which pulled him out of his trance-like state of perturbation. The soldier he knew as Eduard was calling his name at an alarming pitch. All of a sudden, he realised why. The moss-green iron shell of a grenade lay beside him, softly ticking. His eyes widened as he began to internally panic, running as fast he could away from the time-delay bomb. Launching himself into the dirt when he prayed he was far enough away for the explosive to take his life, he covered his head with his hands as tightly as he could and squeezed his eyes shut.

He began to sing to himself. A sweet lullaby his mother would sing to him and his sisters when they were unable to sleep as children. He opened his eyes hesitantly and his arm was grabbed roughly by another soldier. 'You are okay, Braginski.' the fighter assured him as he pulled Ivan up from the dirt, running away with another soldier back into the open battle. He almost started to cry. He just wanted to go home. He didn't want any of this.

'Come on Ivan, you can do this. You need to stay alive. For mother, for father, for Natalya and Yekaterina. They need you.' His mind repeated over and over again.

Ivan stood up straight, he dusted himself off and sprinted across the ground to the fresh corpse of one of his own.

Picking up his rifle, he closed his eyes to spare his memory the horrific image before him and frisked the soldier's pockets for bullets. He sighed in relief as he felt the familiar conical shape of the bullets they trained with and shoved them quickly into his own front pocket. Emotions were high on Ivan's end as he respectfully shut the glassy-blue, lifeless eyes of his comrade.

He ran towards a ruin of a house as fast as he could in order to buy himself some extra time to reload the rifle. Throwing himself onto his knees, he fumbled frenetically to get one bullet into the gun and needed a moment to collect himself.

Once the rifle was fully loaded, he placed it on the ground, took a deep breath and stood up again. He could the cock of a rifle come from behind him. A German soldier stood behind him, holding a gun against his back, 'Dreh Dich um.' was all Ivan was told in a raspy voice as he slowly began to turn to face his opponent. The man wore a long, royal blue coat that was draped in a white sash and brooches of his accomplishments. He wore a thick black hat and had piercing red eyes and hair that was just that bit lighter than Ivan's with a silver tint.

'Warum bist du hier?' the man asked. Ivan didn't know how or what to answer so he stood in silence with his arms behind his back, one of his hands holding the blade he kept in his back pants pocket beside the key to where he hid the American earlier that evening.

'Gib mir eine Antwort' the soldier spat at Ivan angrily. Their eyes met as Ivan narrowed his, grip tightening on the shaft of his blade.

'Gilbert!' a much deeper voice called from behind the ruins the two were currently facing off in. 'Bruder?' Ivan's opponent replied as he slowly lowered his gun and turned to face the direction the voice was coming from.

The moment he turned around, Ivan picked up his rifle and booked it over the rubble and ran as fast as he could into a crowd of other fighting soldiers, a string of angry curses in German coming from behind him. He shot his way through his rivals and back to where his group was stationed earlier that night, the tavern, which was now a safe area. Unfortunately, in the midst, he also left a lot of innocent civilians dead and wounded.

Once at the tavern, he threw his rifle onto the ground and himself with it, leaning against the wall. Emitting a soft whine of disapproval, he looked down at his uniform which was covered in blood and dirt. He tilted his head back against the wall and stared at the sky as faint gunshots, screams and cries filled his ears from deeper into the town.

He stayed like that for a while until one of his comrades found him, yelling over at him that they had won this battle and that Königsberg was now under Russian rule. The gunshots and fighting stopped at about 7 AM that morning and it was finally safe again. All surviving Prussian soldiers were seized and imprisoned and the living civilians were put under strict rule and watch by the General.

Ivan was, again, left to his own devices at the tavern as the other soldiers were helping clear the bodies from the town.

He took the key to the cellar from his back pocket and jammed it into the end of the padlock while removing the piece of wood from the handles with his now-bandaged hand.

He opened the doors and to his surprise, Alfred was already standing at the fourth step up, staring up at him in relief as he had been down in the cellar for hours without food. Luckily, the dark room was used as a storage unit for water, beer and spirits.

'Hurry up and follow me.' Ivan whispered sternly as he grabbed the American by the arm and helped him up the stairs. The two of them ran quickly through the streets so Ivan wouldn't be seen by the others.

Alfred's face took on a horrified expression as they passed the lifeless corpses of men, women and children sprawled across the area as Russian soldiers hauled them together onto a pile. Right beside the pile, they were putting together a bonfire to burn the bodies in. Without a single ounce of remorse.

They ran until they arrived at a small shallow river that flowed over stone slabs and had a light brown, brick bridge casting over it. Alfred followed Ivan down underneath the bridge onto an empty stone slab where they stood and caught their breath.

'So-' Alfred panted out, 'Are you gonna fill me in on what the _HELL_ is going on?'

'I just saved your life. You should be saying 'Thank you, Ivan.'' Ivan responded, tone laced with sarcasm.

'Fine...Thank you, Ivan.' Alfred mumbled his gratitude with a light blush.

* * *

TRANSLATIONS:

'Dreh dich um' - 'Turn around'

'Warum bist du hier?' - 'Why are you here?'

'Gib mir eine Antwort' - 'Give me an answer'

'Bruder' - 'Brother'

aye lol rusame gettin closer in the next chap finally


	5. Four

_4:00 PM, August 15th, 1914_

Ivan knew the others would be looking for him as his body was not found so essentially he deserted his country which was a punishable crime.

Once the two calmed themselves down from their escape, Ivan sat down on an empty rock under the bridge and let out a deep sigh as he fiddled with the ends of his tunic.

'Once Prussia is under Russian rule, it will aid us greatly in the war. We need this territory for some sort of leverage against the Empire. So, my boss was informed that the government were staging an attack almost immediately and we had to rush to prepare in only a day. I mean, most of us in this rank only entered the army in January and barely have the training for the general army let alone an actual war that we're expected to win. Unfortunately, you just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and I apologize for your life being in danger, but now we are in a very terrible position.' The soldier explained everything to Alfred who just stared at him with the same wide-eyed expression he seemed to wear a lot.

The American definitely understood where Ivan was coming from, as he himself had been in a similar situation with his trip to Königsberg.

His boss needed him to have a meeting with the Governor to talk about the renewal of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the US and Prussia. However, he knew himself what the German Empire was planning and he knew it wasn't good. He tried everything to get his boss to change his mind or at least wait before sending him over there but it was no use. So, he decided to take extreme measures and completely ignore his bosses request. But Alfred couldn't keep it up for long due to both his own patriotism and his boss' lack of patience.

Suddenly, shouting came from above them. A group of Russian soldiers were running across the bridge and Ivan couldn't make out what they were saying until he heard one of them shout 'найдите он'.

A shiver danced down Ivan's spine momentarily as he recognized the voice. It was the General. 'What was that?' Alfred asked, immediately greeted with a cold and shaky hand over his mouth.

'It is my boss. He is telling the others to find me.' The soldier responded with a terrified whisper and pulled Alfred up from the rock and against the wall of the underside of the bridge.

They stayed like that until all the noise coming from above them disappeared into the distance and even then, just to be sure, Ivan sent Alfred to peek above the bushes at the side to see if the coast was clear.

'We're alone,' Alfred said in a hushed tone as he sauntered back over to stand beside Ivan, 'Why are they searching for you?' he continued with a slight jump in his voice.

Ivan began to get agitated, 'I risked my career - my _LIFE_ \- for some _stranger_.' he murmured more-so to himself. He slowly rose his head and violet eyes trailed up Alfred's form to meet his sky blue ones. Silence lingered between them for a moment when Ivan realised he was staring.

'You didn't need to help me. I could've done just fine on my own.' Alfred crossed his arms and smirked arrogantly. 'American with a hero complex? What a surprise.' Ivan mocked with a roll of his eyes.

The air felt awkward and Ivan could 'read the room' so he sat down on the same rock he had been on before they were interrupted.

'There had to have been a reason you risked everything for a 'stranger'.' Alfred encouraged him, sitting down on the rock across from him.

It hadn't actually occurred to Ivan to ask himself _why_ he went back for him. He could have saved himself and just left him to die in the cellar. Ivan was a firm believer that everything happens for a reason but he couldn't see how or why he was brought to Alfred. He began to think back to when he first met the American. Ivan had conveniently found him just in time to save him from being brutally killed by his fellow soldiers. He had cut his hand open, ruined his uniform and committed a felony by lying to his comrades all to keep this man alive.

'Dude you've been quiet for too long, say something.'

Ivan blinked manically before shaking his head, 'Ah, Sorry. I can not find an answer for you and I do not know why I did what I did for you. God led me to you for a reason. I am unsure of that reason, though.' Alfred blushed, he knew what Ivan said wasn't meant in an affectionate way but he couldn't help but feel like it was.

'I can fight, you know. The only reason I was even in the situation I was in with your friends, was because I was outnumbered. I'm a hell of a fighter and I can prove it to you.' Alfred stood up again and walked over to Ivan, pulling him up from the stone by the arm.

'Prove it to me? How?' Ivan was confused.

'Well, I never did genuinely thank you for putting your ass on the line to save mine. So, I'm gonna help you get home.' Alfred said with a smile as he held out his hand to make it a promise.

'I know you are meaning well by this, Alfred, but I can not go back to Russia now. Once my father hears I ran away, he will turn me in immediately. He has no mercy when it comes to fighting for our country.' Ivan declined the handshake and turned away from Alfred, not wanting him to see him cry as he thought about never seeing his family again.

'Hey big guy, it's okay to be sad you know,' Alfred raised a shaky hand and gently rested it on Ivan's shoulder, 'But, we're going to need a plan. I can't stay here and neither can you. It's not safe for either of us and you know that.' he assured him with a pat before walking around to face him again.

The smile dropped from his face as he noticed tears rolling down Ivan's cheek with closed eyes from shame. He let out a soft sigh and bit his lip as he hesitantly brought a hand to hover over the side of Ivan's face. 'Fuck it.' he thought, using his thumb to wipe the tears from his right cheek. Ivan jumped in fright which almost made Alfred pull back but something told him not to.

Ivan's eyebrows furrowed as he opened his eyes and stared at the American again.

They were close. So close. Closer than Ivan had ever been with any other person besides his mother.

'I have an idea,' Alfred whispered, 'why don't you come back with me?' he asked as he bit the inside of his cheek nervously.

Ivan took in a deep breath through his nose as he thought. The US would be a safer alternative to going home or staying in Prussia. 'I told you, I'm a hell of a fighter. I promise I won't let anything happen to you there.' Alfred told him with a hopeful tone and bright eyes.

'I will go with you, then.' Ivan answered with a sigh and soft smile. It was nice to have someone look out for him for a change. 'Hell yeah dude!' was the excited reply he got and before he knew it, a tight warmth surrounded him. Alfred had pulled him into a hug.

'Um...' Ivan hummed to himself awkwardly as Alfred pulled back abruptly, apologizing profusely. 'I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I made you uncomfortable and I-' he began to ramble with an apologetic look in his eyes.

Ivan shook his head, 'Nyet. It was a surprise. I did not hate it.' he said shyly, cheeks glazing a dusty pink.

Ivan took Alfred by the hands and hugged him again. This time, wrapping his arms around his back. Alfred felt safe in Ivan's grasp. It all felt right, but neither of them could admit it.

Suddenly, a loud gunshot pulled the two men out of their embrace.

'We need to go.' Ivan whispered, grasping Alfred's right hand.

Alfred cursed under his breath and thought for a moment, 'I came here with a sugar merchant from Boston. He told me that he's setting sail for home tomorrow morning with or without me. If we get to the loading dock by morning we can get out of here.' Ivan nodded and squeezed his hand tight. 'The dock is far enough away but we can make it if we're quick and discreet.' His heart rate picked up as Alfred stared up at him with big eyes, the exhilarating adrenaline coursing through his veins.

'We'll get through this _together_ , Ivan.'

* * *

'найдите он' - 'Find him'

'Nyet' -'No'

Ivans character, according to Hima, is very childlike which is why I see him as very emotional and genuinely sensitive especially towards the people he loves and that love him but like any manly man would be ashamed to show emotions in front of people, ESPECIALLY during the war where ur not expected to cry. I don't want to assert either characters 'position' like seme or uke just because its really not about that at ALL and I hate when writers always make Ivan this big scary stone cold seme. His abusive nature is CANONICALLY childlike because he doesn't understand it. im rambling like the yank now but i just wanted to explain why Ivans not this big bad :( seme here in this fic.


	6. Five

_11:00 PM, August 15th, 1914_

Bright green forest surrounded them as they hastily made their way to the docks in Lastadie, a quarter of central Königsberg. Ivan took in the moss tinted trees that stood in their path and swayed around them with the harsh wind of the August night. Neither of them stood a chance had they decided to remain in Prussia and they knew this so they really did need to make it to the dock as fast as they could.

Alfred was extra-determined to arrive before the merchant was even at the ship but unfortunately, Ivan was more pessimistic than the American. 'There's going to be a storm.' Ivan warned as he pulled Alfred to a halt beside him.

'I figured as much. But we can't camp now, there's just no time.' Looking up at the sky, Alfred noticed the stars had been completely clouded over.

'We keep going until there's a significant change in weather.' He concluded and grabbed Ivan by the arm and forced him to follow in the direction they came from. They had to go through the town they had escaped from to get to their destination which was a big problem as Ivan knew the Russian soldiers would not leave the area un-occupied after all their efforts to take it over.

Rain began to spill from the sky all of a sudden, just as the two had made it to the edge of the war-torn town after spending three hours running from unseen enemies.

They both came to an abrupt stop at a sign that read 'Willkommen im Stadtteil Altstadt' which Alfred translated as 'Welcome in the district of Altstadt', Altstadt being the area of attack for Ivan's division.

In dead silence, they caught their breath, hands on their knees and panting like parched dogs. Ivan was the first to speak. 'You are right, we cannot stop now.' he admitted. He glanced over at Alfred, who had now pulled his back up and stood straight with a suspiciously relaxed demeanour. 'I know, I'm always right.' He said with a proud smirk as he crossed his arms, 'But really, we need a plan. I can already hear guys yelling in your weird language. Your language makes everyone sound angry like all the time.' Alfred waved his hands in mock-surrender when Ivan arose, 'They are probably angry.' Ivan said with nervous anger as he lightly slapped Alfred's hand down, 'If we are seen, they will kill us you know.'

Alfred nodded and the smirk fell from his face as Ivan suddenly pulled him into a crouching position with him behind a bush that stood under the sign. 'I saw a man in our uniform, he is patrolling the district border so we need to act fast. I can get us to the square by using alleys but once we get to the square, it is up to fate. The General assigned an entire division to just the square due to the heavy body count, so we will need to be quiet and careful.' Ivan explained in a low whisper, bracing both himself and Alfred for what was to come.

'Alfred. In order to get us to the square, I need you to listen to every word I say and follow every order I give you. If not, there is no way this will work. I know how these men think and I know how they deal with trespassers. The punishment will be ten times worse for me, a trespassing runaway soldier. You must not defy me because of your pride or any other reason. Can you do that?' Alfred bit back a snarky reply but he just exhaled deeply through his nose and nodded.

The plan to get around the soldier by the border was for Alfred to distract him while Ivan makes his way around him and takes him out from behind. So Alfred did what he was told.

'HEY!' The American waved his hands in surrender as he walked towards the soldier, Ivan staying behind the bush until they were facing the other way.

The soldier snapped his head around in surprise and raised his rifle at the sudden noise in the calm night.

'No! Sorry, uh, I come in peace? I promise I don't have a weapon, please believe me.' Alfred panic-rambled. A lot. Luckily, the soldier lowered his gun and Alfred lowered his arms, 'I-I guess I'm lost and I just stumbled across this town. Can you give me directions to the nearest train station? I have business in Berlin to do before I can go back to the US.' he explained, quickly creating a whole new Alfred Jones to pose as.

'Business in Berlin? What kind of business?' The soldier asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow. His English happened to be quite polished for a Russian. This, added to the fact that he was guarding part of a border alone, made Ivan think he must have been from a military family.

'I, uh, My boss runs a toy company in New York and we are looking to expand to mainland Europe as well as the rest of the US. I am to meet with a store owner in Berlin in three days to talk about details. I was in Belgium last week and I was told I could make it to Berlin by train easily but I got confused at a stopover and got lost. So I started walking in a random direction and well, here I am.' He spoke quick and snappy, his anxiety about the situation shining through quite clearly.

The soldier sighed, 'You went from Belgium and you arrived here? That is a new form of stupid. You have gone well past Berlin. The nearest train is an hour walk away.'

Alfred smiled in relief as he saw Ivan pop up from the ground a few feet behind the soldier. 'Can you point me in the right direction?' he asked with a smirk as the soldier cleared his throat and pointed past Alfred's shoulder, 'Well', the soldier started, 'If you go-ACK'. He was pulled back by the collar into Ivan's arms as Ivan slapped one hand over the man's mouth and used the other to snake around his neck, holding onto his own shoulder to squeeze the life out of this soldier. Alfred came to the rescue by ripping the rifle from his hands and holding the man's legs so he couldn't kick or make his way out of Ivan's grasp.

Moments of adrenaline later, the soldier coughed into Ivan's hand and Ivan grimaced as he felt something warm and liquidy land in his palm, but tightened the grip around his neck until his face turned a sickening shade of purple. He lay limp in Ivan's grip and his movement ceased as Ivan let go, the man falling to the concrete with a thud. 'Yuck.' Ivan sighed, staring down at his bloody palm.

'I could lick it clean for you.' Alfred joked and Ivan made a face of sheer disgust which made the American accidentally laugh loudly before shutting his own mouth. 'SHHHH.' Ivan shushed loudly, wiping his hand on the others' jacket as revenge for such a vulgar joke.

Alfred rolled his eyes while Ivan nodded his head in the direction of the town, 'Come on we're not going to make it to Lastadie if we keep stopping.'

It shook Alfred for a moment. How calm and collected Ivan was about having just strangled a man. But he understood that as a soldier, he must have seen worse during the battle. Which Ivan did, he saw his best and only friend laying limbless before him. Choking this soldier was a necessary evil in the long run for Ivan and he did not want to end up like Toris.

So they stealthily ran through the back alleys of the town where there were no soldiers patrolling. They had managed to make it to an alley just before the square and they waited there to catch their breath, yet again.

Ivan decided maybe now was the time to take a short break to clear their heads and think of a new plan. 'You know, I was wondering...' Alfred trailed off as he sat down on an empty beer crate that leaned against the brick wall inside the narrow street. Ivan didn't know where to look so he just stared into the sky, 'Yes?'

'Do you, uh, do you believe in love at first sight?' Alfred asked a little timidly, which Ivan saw as quite out of character for the American. 'What kind of question is that?' he asked, hearing Alfred sigh.

'Well, my dad told me the story of how he and my mom met the day before I left for my new job. He had just returned from serving three years and the community threw him a little get together. The whole village was there even one new family that had just moved in. One of the daughters, the middle one, dad said the moment she walked into the hall, he knew she was the one.' Alfred told him, eyes full of reminiscence.

'And you are asking if I believe in that?' Ivan was intrigued by the story, but he wasn't sure why he was asking for his opinion, 'Is there a special someone?'

'Actually, there is,' Alfred braced himself, 'Uh, _she_ is beautiful. Really tall, pale and heavily accented but _she_ 's beautiful.' Ivan wasn't sure why his stomach twisted everytime he heard ' _she_ '. 'Heavily accented?' Ivan questioned.

'She's Canadian. We, uh, we met once on my cousin Matthew's farm in Toronto.' Alfred was lying through his teeth and he knew it would come back to haunt him. He couldn't just tell Ivan he was talking about him, could he? No. In Russia, there are much, much harsher opinions on such...activity.

'We've barely spoken but my heart starts to beat wildly when I'm around her and when she talks to me I get so nervous that sometimes I'm not the Alfred I know and love, ya know?' Ivan snickered at Alfred's not-so-subtle ego but he understood, he understood all too well.

Ivan thought back to the girl he met when he was but a ten-year-old boy, the Grand Duchess Anastasia. She was a year younger than him and they danced together at a banquet the Tsar had thrown for high-standing military families. The Braginski's were exactly that. The moment the Tsar and his daughters walked down the steps to the grand hall, Ivan was fascinated with her. Ivan's father was in fact, quite close with the Tsar and he had spoken with him weeks before the banquet to organise Ivan's first dance to be with his youngest daughter. The Tsar was more than happy to grant this as the General was one of Russia's most-trusted.

'I met a girl once, too. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen and I got to share my first dance with her. She had long red hair and piercing eyes. I could not get her out of my head for months after the dance. So, I guess I do believe in love at first sight.' Ivan blissfully sighed as memories came flooding back to him.

Alfred nodded with a smile and looked at Ivan again, 'There was a reason I only met Yvonne once.' he bit his lip as he thought of how to word his following sentences, 'Oh?' Ivan encouraged, slightly weirded out by 'her' name being so similar to his. And then he understood.

'My dad had caught cousin Matthew and some Latin-American boy making out in the barn on that same day. Matthew started crying and begging my dad not to tell his dad and dad was livid, but he said he'd keep it a secret because my family was never coming to visit again. I didn't understand why my dad was so angry. When I spoke to Mattie about it, he said he was in love with the guy. But on the way back home, my dad said it was because he didn't want me to be exposed to such sin.' Alfred clicked his tongue in disappointment and a little fear of Ivans response, but he had to know what Ivan's opinion was on homosexuality. He knew Ivan knew the Matthew story was a true tale but also a metaphor for himself. Would he be cruel? Would he laugh at Alfred? What if he called Alfred a fa-'Ah,' Ivan interrupted the worried man's thoughts as he finally looked back at Alfred, dead in the eye this time.

'Alfred, in my country we have a saying, 'Любовь, это просто любовь. Её никогда нельзя объяснить.' It means 'Love is just love, it can never be explained.' Your cousin should be allowed to share his love with whoever holds his heart, free of judgement. He should not be afraid to be his one true self.' he sternly told him, hoping Alfred would realize that he was talking to him, not just about Matthew.

Ivan had seen straight through Alfreds 'Canadian girl' story the moment he mentioned her name being 'Yvonne'. Ivan felt flattered, invigorated and a little scared. He began to wonder how much this American he basically just met, impacted him in such a short time.

'Thank you, Ivan.' Alfred whispered, a huge wave of pure relief washing over him as he stood up again, 'We need to think of a way out of here before dawn.'

* * *

OKAY. An extra long chapter to make up for the crazy amount of time since the last update. The tea on this chapter: I saw an APH Russia headcanon that he was close with the Romanov family and that Anastasia's death cut deep for him. And we all know I love a good historically accurate headcanon and this fic fit the time they were in power so THERE. Also yes. The Latin-American is Cuba. I ship cucan. what else is new.

The Yvonne bit is a wildcard tbh but idk I thought it perfectly captures Alfie's whole character cuz Yvonne and (Russian) Ivan are pronounced THE EXACT SAME so in Ivans' head, he just said his name.


	7. Six

Wow, it's been a crazy two years since this story began! This is the final chapter and still to come is an epilogue which will be posted at some point during the week. This chapter is super short and snappy but it is like that for a reason! Ivan's story finally finishes and listen, ya'll know I hate a cliché happy ending ;) Plus I said at the very beginning that Ludwig is the villain this time.

In all honesty, I grew apart from the fandom for a great deal of the last year or so. But the other day I decided to check out the fandom tag on tumblr to see what was going on and I found out that George DeValier had everything deleted. My heart was literally smashed into pieces. I know people have saved the transcripts of his FF account but it doesn't deny the fact that it really did mark the end of a fanfic era for Hetalia. I've always admired DeValier. His work inspired me and still does to this day, this story actually came from a sudden burst of inspiration I had after re-reading AWS for the millionth time. I'm a huge huge history nerd and have kinda come back to the fandom, I'm mostly writing historical hetalia fics though. But I really am aiming to post more and I've a few ideas for some new fics so I hope you guys stick with me for the journey.

xox, enjoy!

* * *

 _5:30 AM, August 16th, 1914._

After hours of wandering through the night, at last the sky began to clear and brighten as Ivan and Alfred finally laid eyes upon the sign they thought they wouldn't live to see, 'Willkommen im Lastadie'.

It took them a moment to even process that they had made it. Especially for Ivan. He had gone through leaving his family, scavenging his best friend's lifeless corpse for bullets, his emotional journey with Alfred, strangling a fellow comrade, treason and deception of his own homeland and here he stood. In the upcoming sunrise of a beautiful town known for its being the main docking area in Altstadt, Königsberg. He admired the sky and breathed in a deep breath as he felt rejuvenated and free, as if he was given a second chance at a new beginning. Things always do seem clearer in the light of day.

'We made it.' Alfred was the first to speak up in the comfortable silence between them. He knew exactly where the merchant had docked the ship and excitedly dragged Ivan there, not really wanting to spend much more time in the unknown territory.

'Look! There it is!' he cheered the moment he spotted the vessel from the gate leading to the enclosed area. Ivan stopped him for a moment just before they opened the gate.

'Alfred, мой дорогой подсолнух, I did not see myself ever being here. In December, I embraced my mother as she sobbed in grief over my leaving for war. And now, here I am, embracing you. If it was not for you, Alfred, I would have given up after moments on the battlefield. But if I had not come back, you would likely have died. You gave me purpose. And I owe you a great deal because of this, which I promise will come once we arrive in the US. I said before that I would not say 'I love you' until I knew nothing could happen to destroy it but I said it anyways, in a moment where I wasn't sure if we'd even survive anymore. But I can finally say it without that fear as I know we are destined for a long life together.' Ivan became progressively more emotional with this declaration but the smile on Alfred's face was worth it. 'Let's get out of here' Alfred responded, opening the gate with a sigh of relief.

Down at the boat they stopped again, this time because something felt off. A rotten stench came from where the vessel stood and the two men flinched in disgust. Ivan took a moment to peek over the edge into the boat and his eyes widened. Sprawled out in a pool of fresh blood lay the body of the sugar merchant, throat slit a million different ways. 'Oh my god,' Alfred started, 'How the hell did this happen?' his breathing irrational as he began to panic. Ivan shook his head in disbelief when suddenly he lurched forward reflexively upon feeling a sharp, intrusive pain in his back. He fell to his knees and his head was grabbed up by his hair by a strong hand. Before Alfred could even say or do anything, he too was taken hostage by a second, even stronger man. But he wasn't hurt. Yet.

Ivan looked at Alfred with shock-filled eyes that he could barely even keep open from the pain. He felt something large and sharp physically impale him but didn't have the guts to look and see what had even happened. He could feel the blood spurt and seep from the wound.

'Dummkopf, you really thought you could run away with your prinzessin after murdering our whole village and our family?' A deep voice spoke up from above Ivan, who immediately recognized it as the Prussian soldier he had come face to face with on the battlefield. The man holding Alfred must be the brother he called out to, he thought.

'Bruder, this is the man I caught fumbling around in the rubble of our home.' He spat as he lifted Ivan up by his hair and got face to face with him once again.

'Give him to me, Gilbert, and take this one.' The brother negotiated while Ivan prayed this guy was more merciful than 'Gilbert'. 'Ludwig, no, he's my prisoner. This is my kill.' Alfred flinched at the word kill and began to cry. Very verbally. Gilbert sighed, dropped Ivan to the ground and kicked Alfred straight in the mouth, which just made him cry more.

Ludwig ran over and picked up Ivan and forced him to use the strength he had left to stand upright. Ivan had never felt pain like this before in his life. He realized quickly that it would have been better to face the wrath of the other brother because as soon as he stood, Ludwig twisted the metal dagger that was, at this point, completely through him from back to stomach.

He flinched and whined as he tried to cope but could feel himself start to become almost numb to it. It was as if he could feel the pain less, but he could still feel every single piece of metal it was composed of hitting his insides.

He was dying and he knew it. He also knew that Ludwig wasn't finished.

'You were the last person seen in our home when my brother found you in there with your musket. You killed our father and mother. And our brother Roderich. But we haven't found his body. I suppose it was probably thrown onto the pile of rotting corpses as if he was never a person at all. As if he never even breathed a breath, had a family or lived a life. And now, we will do the same to your family. So that your father and mother receive a letter stating that their only son, only heir to his father's military position, their youngest child, died with no honour. With no dignity. And with no one. He died alone.'

Ivan's breath picked up and became ragged as he could barely make out what Ludwig had even said.

All he could here was Alfred's wailing and sobbing. Gilbert piped up as he grabbed Alfred's chin, holding it up so he had to look at Ivan. He had to see his one true love stabbed through the stomach and unable to move and slowly but surely, breathing his last breath. 'Open your eyes or I'll kill you too.' Gilbert whispered in his ear. Alfred knew what was about to happen but that didn't make it hurt any less.

'Anything to say for yourself, verräterin?' Ludwig prompted as he took a musket from the ledge of the boat.

'It has been destroyed, but I love you.' Ivan forced out as he looked up at Alfred.

Alfred couldn't bare this. He was both traumatized and heartbroken.

As Ivan stared down the thin barrel of the musket, everything he had been through flashed before him. He saw his mother and father, his sisters. He saw Toris. He saw Eduard. And lastly, he saw Alfred.

As the image of someone he had hoped was his soulmate faded away, so did Ivan's final breath as the shot of the gun rang through his ears and all faded to black.

His limp body fell to the ground as the force of it pushed the dagger out of him through his back.

What happened after that didn't even matter anymore. Ivan knew from the start that they wouldn't kill Alfred for the same reason Ivan didn't kill him when they first met. He was let go and escorted back to the USA while Ivan's body was left in the spot he died for the Russian Military to find. And when they did, even though he was a deserter, he was given a military funeral.

Alfred was invited to this funeral after the General was given a letter that was found on Ivan's person which he had handed to Mr. Braginski when the news broke of his son's death.

He politely declined the offer to attend as he physically could not bear such a day.

But Alfred knew in his heart of hearts, that even after everything he had witnessed and bore, Ivan ended up where the good men go.

* * *

'мой дорогой подсолнух' - My dear sunflower  
'Dummkopf' - Idiot  
'Bruder' - Brother  
'Verräterin' - Traitor


End file.
